This invention relates to apparatus for measuring the topography (feature locations, dimensions and physical configuration) of a rotating body and more particularly for determining the specific dimensions and feature positions of such a body having known general physical features.
Several U.S. Patents describe wheel balancing systems requiring manual determination and input of certain required wheel dimensions to the wheel balancing system. One such system is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,818 issued July 13, 1982 to Hill et al. Systems which visually sense certain characteristics on a body, such as the presence of tire tread, are represented by the Foxboro/Oktek Inc. non contact on line measurement system seen in their brochure dated November, 1987. However, automated measurement of certain specific physical characteristics of a rotary body by a vision system and automated input of such characteristics to automotive service systems as preliminary information prior to measurement and data generation by the system is unknown.